View Poll Results: Did you get & stay sober on your first attempt of sobriety ?
Yes
23
16.43%
No
117
83.57%
Voters: 140. You may not vote on this poll
Did you get sober on your first ever attempt at sobriety
Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: South Yorkshire, Great Britain
Posts: 205
No hun! This is my fourth attempt but this time I feel stronger and more determined than I ever did before!
I also did it first two times with non alcoholic wine and beer which prob didnt help! xxx
I also did it first two times with non alcoholic wine and beer which prob didnt help! xxx
Last edited by spadge; 03-22-2016 at 02:08 PM. Reason: missed sentence
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: California
Posts: 13,044
No, but I plan on making this my final attempt! 82 days today, I'm getting close to my longest stretch of sobriety other than pregnancy. I know once I hit that 90 day mark I cannot be complacent, that has been my downfall in the past.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, USA
Posts: 2,229
Nope. Plenty of my day 1's ended by caving that night. It took me finding SR to realize I wasn't alone and could do this.
After 20 years of heavy / daily drinking, my first real attempt I went 9 months then relapsed hard for a year. Until I truly committed and left no opportunity for my AV, I was just setting myself up for failure.
Now on my 4th true attempt and this is my last. Sure wish I had realized how great being sober was 20 years ago!
After 20 years of heavy / daily drinking, my first real attempt I went 9 months then relapsed hard for a year. Until I truly committed and left no opportunity for my AV, I was just setting myself up for failure.
Now on my 4th true attempt and this is my last. Sure wish I had realized how great being sober was 20 years ago!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 176
I lost track on how many attempts. Appreciate that I've had many successes along this 40 yr journey. Learning from my mistakes. I'm not failure! I believe I can live the rest of my days sober. Continue to grow in recovery.
Re-Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 7,909
I couldn't even count how many times it's taken. I did a post sometime last year where I talked about just how many of my declarations of "day one" I found here on SR. It was a lot, and those were only the tip of the iceberg.
Good news is I never have to do that again as long as I keep doing what I'm doing today to stay sober right now.
Good news is I never have to do that again as long as I keep doing what I'm doing today to stay sober right now.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: manchester uk
Posts: 1,131
I am happy to say yes i did 10 months now. Dont get me wrong sometimes when im feeling down i could easily grab a bottle of vodka
But then i remember what my life used to be like & i just think no dont want to go back to that dark place. xx
But then i remember what my life used to be like & i just think no dont want to go back to that dark place. xx
You can have reasons, or you can have results, but you can't have both.
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 1,232
The only attempt that matters is this one. And it's working, HALLELUJAH!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you amino acids!!!! I didn't need my head shrunk, didn't need to make any lists, just needed my brain chemistry set straight. Can't get over the miracle. Glory goes upstairs, as always!
Thank you, thank you, thank you amino acids!!!! I didn't need my head shrunk, didn't need to make any lists, just needed my brain chemistry set straight. Can't get over the miracle. Glory goes upstairs, as always!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 4,860
Yes.
With this caveat: For several years, I made attempts to moderate -- joke -- that never lasted more than a few days. I always went right back to my old habits: too much, too often.
When I decided that I could no longer live that way, I had to draw a line in the sand and say "no more -- booze is off the table." I was two months into sobriety, with no support, when I was hovering on the brink. Thanks to SR (specifically, Dee), the wonderful class system offered here and resources including the terrific Tuesday and Friday night meetings, I found the support I needed. I stay on SR to keep living a life of recovery.
The same question was posed a couple days ago in the Alcoholism forum and I'll add what I posted there:
"I've been here about 2.5 years now and one of the things I've learned is that there are a lot of people on SR who all but fly under the radar. They post mainly, or even only, within their classes, where years-long friendships have been formed in sobriety. In other cases, some of us sober folks stay with our class but also post in other sections. For some, SR is no longer a part of their lives but they're still are sober and stay in contact privately. Still others make infrequent visits to their classes or to the more commonly visited sections to let folks know they continue doing well. "
People can and do stay sober, even on their first try. I encourage newbies to do three things:
1. Commit to your drinking days being over. Draw a line in the sand. Quite simply, you can never drink again.
2. Pay no attention to the urban legends of sobriety, either that "relapse is a part of recovery" -- wrong! -- or to the voice in your head that says you can probably drink again at some point. You cannot.
3. Take advantage of the wonderful resources SR offers, noted above, and consider additional support, be it in the form of AA or other methods, treatment, or consultation with an accredited addiction counselor.
With this caveat: For several years, I made attempts to moderate -- joke -- that never lasted more than a few days. I always went right back to my old habits: too much, too often.
When I decided that I could no longer live that way, I had to draw a line in the sand and say "no more -- booze is off the table." I was two months into sobriety, with no support, when I was hovering on the brink. Thanks to SR (specifically, Dee), the wonderful class system offered here and resources including the terrific Tuesday and Friday night meetings, I found the support I needed. I stay on SR to keep living a life of recovery.
The same question was posed a couple days ago in the Alcoholism forum and I'll add what I posted there:
"I've been here about 2.5 years now and one of the things I've learned is that there are a lot of people on SR who all but fly under the radar. They post mainly, or even only, within their classes, where years-long friendships have been formed in sobriety. In other cases, some of us sober folks stay with our class but also post in other sections. For some, SR is no longer a part of their lives but they're still are sober and stay in contact privately. Still others make infrequent visits to their classes or to the more commonly visited sections to let folks know they continue doing well. "
People can and do stay sober, even on their first try. I encourage newbies to do three things:
1. Commit to your drinking days being over. Draw a line in the sand. Quite simply, you can never drink again.
2. Pay no attention to the urban legends of sobriety, either that "relapse is a part of recovery" -- wrong! -- or to the voice in your head that says you can probably drink again at some point. You cannot.
3. Take advantage of the wonderful resources SR offers, noted above, and consider additional support, be it in the form of AA or other methods, treatment, or consultation with an accredited addiction counselor.
NA Member - Atheist
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Middletown CT USA
Posts: 770
I voted "yes" with a bit of a disclaimer.
I stopped using when I was 22 (back in 1990) but remained much the same person. I stayed abstinent for about 7 and a half years and started using again in 1997. - In 2012 life was... different. - This is my first experience with "Recovery", and that has proven to be a different animal altogether. After going to meetings for three days while using, July 11th 2012 was the first day I didn't use. Anything. No drugs (including alcohol), no replacements, nothing. I haven't had to use since. - And... a lot of other things have changed over time.
I stopped using when I was 22 (back in 1990) but remained much the same person. I stayed abstinent for about 7 and a half years and started using again in 1997. - In 2012 life was... different. - This is my first experience with "Recovery", and that has proven to be a different animal altogether. After going to meetings for three days while using, July 11th 2012 was the first day I didn't use. Anything. No drugs (including alcohol), no replacements, nothing. I haven't had to use since. - And... a lot of other things have changed over time.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 476
This is my "first time out". Over 2 years clean now, and so far so good.....
Judging by the harsh withdrawal I had, i don't think I ever wanna go through *that* again, I think i'm done. I have a new-found appreciation for my health and have been getting caught up on all the latest "health" stuff recently including the various gurus such as Mercola, health ranger, etc.
I think once you reach a certain time-frame your brain begins to "normalize" to an extent, I haven't thought about alcohol in a long time. It just hasn't come up, and I've had my mind on other things. I haven't had the highly disturbing "alcohol dream" since late 2014 or thereabouts.
I think something else that has helped me is my relative social isolation (ironically). Being an introvert and shy by nature, I just don't know very many people, and don't care much for "family" either as I don't have much in common with them. I rarely go to "social" events and mostly spend my time on a computer for both entertainment and making money.
When you couple social isolation with lack of exposure to "temptation scenarios" such as family dinners, social events, company events, bars, etc it's fairly easy to just forget about it and occupy your mind with other things. "People" are a huge source of both temptation and drama, both of which can increase chances of a relapse.
I imagine extroverts have a much tougher time with this as they are far more exposed to "temptation scenarios", and they are more vulnerable to relapse/peer pressure due to "people" , "family", "drama" and such.
Judging by the harsh withdrawal I had, i don't think I ever wanna go through *that* again, I think i'm done. I have a new-found appreciation for my health and have been getting caught up on all the latest "health" stuff recently including the various gurus such as Mercola, health ranger, etc.
I think once you reach a certain time-frame your brain begins to "normalize" to an extent, I haven't thought about alcohol in a long time. It just hasn't come up, and I've had my mind on other things. I haven't had the highly disturbing "alcohol dream" since late 2014 or thereabouts.
I think something else that has helped me is my relative social isolation (ironically). Being an introvert and shy by nature, I just don't know very many people, and don't care much for "family" either as I don't have much in common with them. I rarely go to "social" events and mostly spend my time on a computer for both entertainment and making money.
When you couple social isolation with lack of exposure to "temptation scenarios" such as family dinners, social events, company events, bars, etc it's fairly easy to just forget about it and occupy your mind with other things. "People" are a huge source of both temptation and drama, both of which can increase chances of a relapse.
I imagine extroverts have a much tougher time with this as they are far more exposed to "temptation scenarios", and they are more vulnerable to relapse/peer pressure due to "people" , "family", "drama" and such.
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